Policy priorities for 2012: jobs and services

In recent days, both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have marked out the economy as the battleground for the year ahead.

But as they argue over whose solutions are best to lift the nations' economic fortunes, the growing gaps in job opportunities and access to basic community services are the elephants in the room.

This year's federal budget should be the first step towards closing those gaps by improving payments and employment services for unemployed people - investing in a new dental health scheme so that low income earners can afford a visit to the dentist, and making a clear financial commitment to a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Despite good economic management during the GFC, as a result of weak international conditions employment didn't grow at all throughout 2011. If this trend continues in 2012, unemployment will rise above December's rate of 5.2 per cent.

That will turn the spotlight on the circumstances of unemployed people. Both the Government and the Opposition acknowledge that we need stronger jobs growth. But job creation is not enough. Unemployed people are living on poverty-level payments and they don't get enough help to train and prepare for the jobs that are available.

There are over 600,000 people stuck on unemployment payments – the Newstart Allowance is just $35 a day for a single adult. The days when unemployment payments only need to tide people over during a few months of job search are long gone. Half of all recipients have been living on this payment for over 12 months.

These days, most unemployed people are drawn from groups which face barriers to gaining employment (including people with disabilities, older workers, and people without Year 12 qualifications). So there is wide agreement from community organisations, business and unions that Newstart Allowance is not enough.

Too many people are spending over half their benefits in rent, skimping on food, and falling behind with utility bills. If the Government is serious about supporting people into jobs, it must give priority in this year's budget to implementing the Henry Review proposal to raise Newstart for single people by $50 per week.

The Prime Minister's commitment to boost investment in mainstream vocational education and training is very welcome – many unemployed people and low-paid workers will lift their job prospects if they lift their skills and qualifications. But training alone won't reduce long-term unemployment.

What's needed is closer collaboration between TAFEs, Job Services Australia providers and employers to ensure that training leads to a job, and expanded wage subsidy schemes to give unemployed people experience in regular jobs. ACOSS does not support expansion of work for the dole-type schemes because they don't offer experience in mainstream paid employment and aren't as effective as schemes that do.

The Government only funds Job Services Australia (JSA) services $500 to invest in training and work experience to improve the job prospects of a typical long-term unemployed person. That won't buy the training and support needed by people who are frozen out of employment due to a low education levels, a disability, or age discrimination. The Government needs to at least double the funding for work experience and training for each long-term unemployed person to at least $1,100 per person.

There are yawning gaps in another key community safety net: health and community services. Two of the biggest gaps are chronic under-funding of support services for people with severe disabilities and their carers, and the fact that many people on low incomes cannot afford a visit to the dentist.

The good news for people with disabilities is that there appears to be a bipartisan commitment to a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The main worry here is that there is not yet a commitment to properly fund it. We call on both parties to continue to consult widely to develop a comprehensive, fully funded scheme as soon as possible.

We welcome the Opposition Leader's comments in support of improving the availability of dental services through Medicare. After many years of lobbying by ACOSS, other community groups and dental organisations, there appears to be a bipartisan commitment to closing the huge gap in access to even the most basic dental services in Australia. We need to see concrete, fully funded proposals to assess their effectiveness in improving access to timely and affordable services for the 40 per cent of people who currently miss out. ACOSS is calling for more effective expenditure on dental services to reduce these inequalities, with an increased investment to $2.9 billion to be offset in part by reduced spending in current, poorly-targeted programs.

In the present political environment it may be hard to find areas of consensus on public policy. Yet there is emerging agreement that two of the key problems that must be dealt with this year are entrenched unemployment and lack of access to basic services. This is welcomed and can be more than aspiration. It can be achieved through following through the work of the Henry Review, tackling poorly targeted tax breaks and expenditures.